Anniversary of the 1918 Armistice

November 11, 1918. The runner, his breath visible in the morning air, waited for the captain to acknowledge the message. The night had been bitter, the temperature hovering near freezing. The cold had stiffened the mud, caking uniforms and frosting the rim of the trench. Leaden skies threatened snow. A medic moved along the duckboards handing out aspirin to sneezing, hacking men with heavy colds. They gripped tin mugs of coffee, grateful for the warmth, and eyed the runner, wondering what news he bore.

The captain read the message twice. It must be a mistake. True, the night before, the U.S. 26th Division had received Field Order 105 to attack at 9:30 this morning. But at 9:10, just as they had been checking their ammunition and fixing bayonets, word came that the armistice had been signed. Hostilities were to cease at 11 A.M. The attack had been canceled. And here was another message telling the captain that the assault had been reinstated. His watch showed 10:30. A half-hour remained in the war.

- From 11th Month 11th Day 11th Hour: Armistice Day, 1918, World War I and Its Violent Climax by Joseph E. Persico